Is 70mph too slow?

[mirras]

I've recently changed cars from a W211 E240 to a R230 SL500. I've noticed drivers now tailgate me much more often and much closer when I'm in the overtaking lane of a dual carrigeway or motorway. I am not guilty of sitting there when there's room to pull back in safely. I will not be pushed into putting my foot down but it seems the Scooby Doo drivers and most recently a plonker in a Mini cooper seem to think I should be scraping along at 99mph like them and not get in their way. Am I just being paranoid here or does anyone else get this treatment from would-be boy racers?

 

[MrT]

No, not sure if it just feels that way when you're closer to the ground?

I feel this when I drive my wife's car (a two seat convertible) - people seem to get a lot closer and try and have a race. Nobody bothers me in the B.

 

[nick mercedes]

Am I just being paranoid here or does anyone else get this treatment from would-be boy racers?

90 is the new 70

 

[shorty]

I have had afew jokers try to out run me when im on the Blade . They all get some manners ! LOL

 

[The G.F.P]

i hate going slow

drove to cambridge and back the other night and was at 70 all the way with them bloody average speed cameras at 2am!

but if i goto pboro im there in 9 mins and its the same distance from me as cambridge is and that takes 20 mins

 

[rf065]

Yes, 70mph is too slow for modern cars when the conditions are good, but that is no excuse for tailgating people in nice/fast cars.

Having said that, in my younger days I had a 2 litre turbo which was incredibly fast & can remember embarrassing a couple of V8 MB's owners who did take the bait.

Best option is to pull over when safe, let them go & not take it personal.

Russ

 

[wemorgan]

i hate going slow

drove to cambridge and back the other night and was at 70 all the way with them bloody average speed cameras at 2am!

but if i goto pboro im there in 9 mins and its the same distance from me as cambridge is and that takes 20 mins

If Cambridge is 20 mins at 70mph and P'boro 9 mins for the same distance were you doing >140mph!?

Yes, 70mph is too slow for modern cars when the conditions are good, but that is no excuse for tailgating people in nice/fast cars.

Yes the cars are modern, but the nuts behind the wheel haven't changed.

I'd be happier for a motorway speed limit that changed in dry and wet conditions as in France.

I'd also like to see more white 'arrows' painted on the motorways, to signify an appropriate gap between you and the next car.

 

[mirras]

Best option is to pull over when safe, let them go & not take it personal.

Russ

I absolutely do pull over when safe but I am inclined to take it personally when I can see how well trimmed their nose hair is in my rear view mirror. I have been known to go a little over 70mph in the past but a nice sheriff put paid to that a few years ago when I got done for 103mph ( on an almost empty road, only me and an unmarked traffic car ). It's more the change in attidude that concerns me, they see the SL and must decide I should be driving faster.

 

[BTB 500]

70 on the speedo will be a little less in reality (they all over-read slightly).

Tailgaters are morons, and the ones who then swerve across and under-take are even worse.

But ... I will often use a short burst of extra speed if I'm overtaking someone who is going only slightly slower than me, to clear the outside lane quicker. Typically this is when I'm on cruise control.

The alternative is to pull out as soon as you are below the minimum safe distance from the car in front ... then spend ages creeping past at an extra 1 mph or whatever. If you're travelling at a vaguely legal speed this is guaranteed to generate a queue (just as we all moan when trucks doing almost the same speed are overtaking).

 

[Nik_Endeavour]

Yes, 70mph is too slow for modern cars when the conditions are good

I don't think so! Regardless of what technological advance from add your favourite 3 letter acronym here the human body still is designed to go at 4-5 mph max. Reaction time is going to kill you. No matter if your reaction times are that of Bruce Lee doing 100 mph is going to beat you.

I never understood why the 90+ brigade seem to think that getting there 5 mins earlier warrants playing with death (and if you don't care about yours there are other motorway users that care about theirs).

Just my opinion to be honest. MB are cruisers designed to get people from A to B so they do not notice the journey unlike some other brands that are designed as penis extensions.

 

[JumboBeef]

Reaction time is going to kill you.

I would go one futher and say that also lack of skill of driving at high speed is also going to kill you (or rather, how to stay out of trouble/correct an issue at high speed) despite how good your motor is.

How many here have done advanced driving/high speed driving training/skid pan training? I have done all of the above, and yet I would rather travel at 65mph on a motorway than 85mph (because I have seen what happens to 'good' drivers when they crash at high speed).

There is a lot more to driving fast than just pressing the loud pedal.....

 

[stats007]

I don't think so! Regardless of what technological advance from add your favourite 3 letter acronym here the human body still is designed to go at 4-5 mph max. Reaction time is going to kill you. No matter if your reaction times are that of Bruce Lee doing 100 mph is going to beat you.

I never understood why the 90+ brigade seem to think that getting there 5 mins earlier warrants playing with death (and if you don't care about yours there are other motorway users that care about theirs).

Just my opinion to be honest. MB are cruisers designed to get people from A to B so they do not notice the journey unlike some other brands that are designed as penis extensions.

So explain why MBs are designed to cruise at three-figure speeds on some Autobahns - statistically some of the safest roads in the world?

Lane discipline and enforcement of it from the police is woefully poor in this country .

 

[Nik_Endeavour]

So explain why MBs are designed to cruise at three-figure speeds on some Autobahns - statistically some of the safest roads in the world?

Lane discipline and enforcement of it from the police is woefully poor in this country .

The key word there is some and even then, while there is technically no speed limit the recommended speed is 130 km/h. About why MB are designed to cruise at three figure speeds was a clever and very effective marketing ploy by the post WWII MB management.

Their marketing strategy a was a highly engineered car capable of sustained high speed (for the 50s) without blowing the engine. A very successful marketing strategy and technically it is possible to make a car capable of sustained high speeds for long periods of time. It is the human factor that it cannot be engineered. 100 mph to 0 mph in less than a second it is going to kill you just your organs decelerating. FACT

So while should a limit be enforced and policed or simply be left to the masses own judgment is a matter of politics, the hard science is that a collision or even driving at elevated speeds increases the risk of severe or fatal outcomes exponentially. While I fully understand and approve of anybody's right to terminate their existence in any way they like I would appreciate leaving me or members of my family or social cycle out that journey. There are no trees or cliffs that are going to stop you on the M(4, 4, 25, 60, 20 etc), just other cars.

 

[Will]

The thing that often surprises me about people who complain of undertaking is that if there's room for someone to undertake you, why haven't you moved over?

The number of people who simply sit in the the outside lanes for miles with plenty of space on the inside are mainly responsible for the undertaking culture that we have today IMHO. There was a campaign to address this a while back, 'Keep left' messages on the matrix signs etc.

And if 70mph is safer than 90, why no drive at 60mph or 50mph, surely safer still?

I think the reason why the limit has remained at 70 for all of these years is that most people will drive just above that (80-90) and if say the limit was raised to 90 a fair few people would still exceed that regularly (100-110?)

In reality, cars are safer than they have ever been. Air bags, crumple zones etc. Surely driving at 80 or 90 today and being involved in an accident would be less serious than a 70mph crash in an old Cortina or whatever?

Will

 

[Spinal]

100 mph to 0 mph in less than a second it is going to kill you just your organs decelerating. FACT

Not always... extreme scenario... a skydiver's parachute didn't open (terminal velocity of skydiving is 124mph) and he plummeted to the ground... he did 124mph to 0mph in less than a second when he hit the ground... and survived... and that's without airbags, seatbelts, crush zones and the other safety mechanisms...

It will kill most people, but it wont kill all... so not FACT, just likelihood...

M.

 

[wemorgan]

The deceleration in an accident is hard to imagine until you've seen it with your own eyes.

In a typical EuroNCAP frontal test at 40 mph the car decelerates to 0 mph in 0.08 seconds and will have rebounded by 0.12 seconds.

Less time than a blink of an eye.

 

[BTB 500]

The thing that often surprises me about people who complain of undertaking is that if there's room for someone to undertake you, why haven't you moved over?

Because you're waiting to overtake slower vehicles in front of you in the outside lane. The question is why haven't they moved over.

In reality, cars are safer than they have ever been. Air bags, crumple zones etc. Surely driving at 80 or 90 today and being involved in an accident would be less serious than a 70mph crash in an old Cortina or whatever?

For sure. I was talking to a friend of mine who totally destroyed a Monaro VXR last year in a very high speed motorway crash. The entire front end (engine, gearbox, front wheels, suspension, and some bodywork) parted company with the rest of the car and ended up 50 yds away. But he walked away with no more than bruising. As an aside, he replaced it with a C63 estate!

 

[nick mercedes]

It is the human factor that it cannot be engineered. 100 mph to 0 mph in less than a second it is going to kill you just your organs decelerating.

To be honest if I drove into something at 70mph it would be curtains for me anyway, so I may as well do it at 90, at least it will be a bit more spectacular for anyone who happens to be spectating.

 

[Nik_Endeavour]

Not always... extreme scenario... a skydiver's parachute didn't open (terminal velocity of skydiving is 124mph) and he plummeted to the ground... he did 124mph to 0mph in less than a second when he hit the ground... and survived... and that's without airbags, seatbelts, crush zones and the other safety mechanisms...

It will kill most people, but it wont kill all... so not FACT, just likelihood...

M.

Right... An oddity which would apparently disprove my theory but hey that's what is called miracle. I would like to hit the ground at 5 mph if I have to. I give you that maybe is not a fact but anything with over 90% chance of success kinda makes me believe that is fact.

 

[Nik_Endeavour]

To be honest if I drove into something at 70mph it would be curtains for me anyway, so I may as well do it at 90, at least it will be a bit more spectacular for anyone who happens to be spectating.

That's fair enough it's just that I don't want your car hitting me while I am spectating and I think at 70 mph you will have less chance of losing control and putting up a show that you have at 90.